How Steph Curry Became Shaq’s NBA Fav

April 28, 2021

Times change… so do opinions. When it comes to Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neal admits it: He used to hate Curry, but now he’s his favorite NBA player. How did that come about? Read on…

If you haven’t been paying attention this season, Curry is having an all-universe season. Some nights he absolutely carries the Warriors thorough combination of pinpoint passing and circus-like three-pointers. He may well be one of the greatest single-show players ever in the game. 

Still, it wasn’t always like this. Early on in his career, Curry had his doubters and his critics. Not too many of those critics are left…they’ve all changed their tunes, in a big way. One of those who’s changed is Shaq. 

Former superstar player and now-TNT analyst O’Neal recently admitted that he used to be a part of the “hater” crowd. Now it’s a different story. Curry – Shaq says – is his favorite player in the NBA.

Check out yet another amazing Curry three-pointer by clicking here. 

For those who tune in regularly to TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” you know that Shaq has “spoken his truth” about several current players, and how O’Neal feels they still have work to do on the road to becoming stars. (Check out comments made toward the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert for specific examples.) 

And while Shaq was definitely not a Curry fan in years gone by, things are different now. O’Neal isn’t afraid to say – in public – that the Warriors superstar is his favorite player in the NBA. Now, after keeping the reason to himself for quite some time, O’Neal finally revealed it to the world recently.

During his appearance on the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast alongside Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, Shaq came clean on his appreciation of Curry: “I used to hate him early on in his career… (I’d say), ‘He ain’t gonna make that’. But he kept proving me wrong and that’s why he’s my best player…I like being proved wrong. So my message to these young cats: When I say something, prove me wrong.”

It certainly is a very Shaq-like thing to say “prove me wrong.” And Stephen Curry certainly did, along with millions worldwide, leaving no doubt that he is indeed the greatest shooter of all time. 

The NBA are still to come… we’ll see how Curry’s Warriors show up for this year’s tournament. 

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